Is beauty within the Church optional or essential? What is the origin of Orthodox Christian liturgical vestments and what is their significance? What meaning is contained in the textiles, colors and designs used in Orthodox Christian liturgical practice? Answering these and many other questions, master vestment maker, Khouria Krista West, invites us to explore the fascinating and colorful world of Orthodox Christian vesture and church adornment. The first comprehensive book on this topic in the English language, The Garments of Salvation is an engaging and compelling presentation of the nearly 2000-year tradition of liturgical garments within the Eastern Orthodox Church.

“The Garments of Salvation” will fascinate anyone who loves “the beauty of Thy house” with its insight into the meaning and making of liturgical vestments and fabrics. Most importantly, it returns to us our own holy tradition, a tradition of great beauty, which threatens to be lost to the temptations of cheap materials and hasty production. Beauty matters, and The Garments of Salvation will make you hungry to see it in your own church. ~Kh Frederica Mathewes-Green

The vestments of Holy Church represent the adornment of salvation. This intriguing, indispensable book by Kh. Krista West adds another important dimension. It adorns the mind with theological wisdom and historical understanding. By all means, read this book!~Fr. Patrick Henry Reardon

Kh. Krista West’s book on the origins, history, and theological meaning of Liturgical vestments is both an intellectual and spiritual achievement covering many academic disciplines at once: it is engaging history that traces the civil lineaments of what finally became sacred vestments; it is systematic theology true to holy tradition -teaching you can touch; it is evangelical in that it proclaims the faith in fabrics; it is pastoral showing how members of the clergy are chosen to “put on glorious apparel” as a reflection of Christ Who sits at the right hand of His Father.~From the foreword by Rt Rev Bishop Anthony (Michaels)

Khouria Krista West began work as an ecclesiastical tailor in 1995 and founded Krista West Vestments in 1997. Her designs may be found in Orthodox churches of every major jurisdiction in North America as well as numerous countries throughout the world. An avid scholar of the history and construction techniques of Eastern Orthodox ecclesiastical vesture, she writes and lectures on the topic as she continues to pursue her research and the development of her own practice of the historic craft of vestment making. She is the wife of Fr Alban West with whom she resides in Portland, Oregon, with their three daughters.